DH Illustration.
We are a country with funny priorities. Four days ago, three Ministers of a drop-in-the-ocean nation, Maldives, with a population of some 500,000 and an area of 300 sq km, made some derogatory remarks on social media against India’s Prime Minister – the PM of a country 3 million sq km in span, and a population of 1.4 billion.
While India had valid reasons to object to any disrespectful comment made against its PM, it’s worth noting that as soon as these remarks surfaced, the Maldivian government distanced itself from them. They clarified that “the minister’s opinions are personal and do not represent its views,” further emphasizing that their government values the freedom of expression only within the bounds of democratic and responsible conduct, that does not “hinder close relationships between the Maldives and its international partners.” Additionally, their Finance Minister unequivocally condemned the remarks, and the three offending Ministers were suspended. Furthermore, the Maldivian tourism body strongly denounced the derogatory comments.
Given that Maldives is a mere speck on the jacket of the Indian PM, we could have just flicked the speck off, shrugged and moved on, as would have befitted our stature. Let’s recall the wisdom from our own culture, Chhama badan ko chahiye, chotan ko utpat; kahan Hari ko ghatyo, jo Bhrigu mari laat? (Forgiveness befits the noble. After all, what did it cost Lord Vishnu because an insignificant Bhrigu Rishi kicked the Lord?).
Equally, invoking Ramdhari Singh Dinkar’s Kshama Shobti us bhujang ko, jiske pass garal ho.., (forgiveness becomes those who have the might…). Surely India has enough majesty to forgive the silly remarks of some obscure leaders of a miniscule country which rapidly backtracked and made amends?
But no, instead, we chose to go after the mosquito with a mallet. We insisted on a formal apology, lodging a “strong protest” with the Maldivian government. We summoned their envoy and reprimanded them to underline our disapproval. We deliberately slowed down the processing of an ongoing invitation extended to their President to visit India. Our top traders’ association organised a demonstration against Maldives, exhorting traders not to trade with the island-nation; our tourists and tourism apps boycotted flights to the Maldives. Even celebrities cancelled their holiday plans there (even as, in a rush to post their take ahead of others, they ended up posting attractive pictures of the Maldives in place of Lakshadweep)!
Really? Is our skin so thin that we cannot just voice a straightforward objection to an insult by some insignificant politicians of an apology of a country and mosey along? And guess what, four days after the episode, a national daily on Wednesday featured no less than six major headlines related to the Maldives – half of them on the first page. The count was probably higher in the days prior.
Now, let us compare this to the coverage of another news item, which barely got a mention in most of the TV channels and found no mention even in the national dailies, beyond the first day of reporting.
We are referring to the Supreme Court’s momentous decision of January 8, that ordered back to jail the 11 rapists and murderers who were summarily released 18 months ago by the Gujarat government. The highest court of the land in its judgement called out the Gujarat government for “abuse of power”, stating that the previous Supreme Court order was obtained through a “fraud on the court”. It declared its own 2022 ruling, permitting the Gujarat government to decide on a remission plea from one of the 11 convicts in the Bilkis Bano case, a “nullity” and “non est in the eyes of law” as it was obtained through “fraudulent” means.
The serious indictment of the Gujarat government should prompt numerous questions in a responsible media in a democracy. Why isn’t there an uproar in the Gujarat Assembly calling for the indicted Chief Minister to resign? What if an Opposition-run state faced a similar situation? If the Leader of Opposition or a Mahua Moitra can be expelled from parliament for alleged derogatory remarks against a fellow parliamentarian, or for sharing parliamentary login credentials, when there is no clearly laid policy against it, shouldn’t a Chief Minister be asked to resign for perpetuating a “fraud” against the Supreme Court and the nation? Lack of such questions in parliament is understandable, with much of the Opposition suspended. But why is the media silent?
No daily, except this one, asked, how was it that the Prime Minister stood a mute spectator when these convicts -- who had gangraped a 21-year-old, five-month pregnant Bilkis Bano and brutally murdered her three-year-old child and six other family members -- were released just like that? (As if in a parody, the January 9 Bengaluru edition of a leading national daily had an advert on top of the front page of the newspaper that states: Modi Sarkar Ki Guarantee: Ensuring Dignity of Women. Ironically, the advert was right on top of the headline, ‘“Abuse of power by Gujarat govt’: SC sends Bilkis case convicts back to jail.”)
As citizens, it’s natural for us to believe that our Prime Minister genuinely intends to prioritise the sanctity of women’s dignity. However, in the light of this, shouldn’t the press naturally ask why there was stony silence from the PM, the Home Minister, or the Minister of Women and Child Development when these convicts were released, or for that matter now?
While the Maldives issue commanded extensive coverage on the front pages of national dailies for days, today’s editions have already run dry on the issues for the most part, lacking any follow-up articles, reflections, op-eds, or opinions delving into the questions raised earlier.
Indeed, many of these questions ought to have been raised even as the Gujarat government initially released these convicts. Regrettably, much of the mainstream media did not do its job.
(The writer is a former academic and an author)
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